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Old 05-31-2008, 11:37 PM   #1
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Our RVW Experience

I have been hesitant to post this because I wanted time to pass to see how I really felt about it and if anything changed over time.

We bought our trailer in March. It was on the lot and we arranged to pick it up in Wyoming, half way for us. We bought a Rockwood Roo 23RS. I am going to tell you the issues, you tell me if I should consider this a successful transaction or not - HONEST now, YOU won't hurt my feelings....

1. We have never had a travel trailer before. So we came on here, took all your advice. We told the salesman that we needed a complete lesson on how to use it, what things were, etc. He assured us that they would have an RVW driver who was able to do that. It was even in writing.

The driver delivered the truck, late at night and in the cold a day earlier and then complained that he didn't have time or the ability to tell us how to use the thing. When we asked him to put the awning down, he said, "I knew you were going to ask me to do that, I assure you 4 other people have looked at it and it is fine."

2. We ordered the hitch and brake controller from them also. Called and asked what size ball we needed, were told 2 5/16. When the unit came, No brake controller and a hitch that took a 2 inch ball. So back we go to the store, buy a break controller for 75$ more and exchange the ball. Call RVW and they basically tell us we are lying and that the driver never said the BC was not in the truck. Go buy one and we will take ours off the bill if he confirms your story. Thankfully, it was in writing with the driver.

3. The trailer itself, we love, however. The glass on the door is a different color half way up, looks like water damage or something, the heating ducts were not hooked up so we froze the first night until we figured out how to crawl under the bed and hook it up. The vent to the stove is wripped off or broken or stolen, found out that the first night that we froze bc the heat wasn't connected and the vent was letting all the cold in. The door won't shut. We have to slam it or push it closed everytime like it is warped.

It wasn't clean. All the lights have foam in them and there is sawdust and crap everywhere. The wood inside the trailer, like the small pieces that hold up the shelves look like they were left outside for weeks to rot, then put in. But that isn't consistant, some are nice, others look like scrap wood. (maybe this is normal, I don't know) The ac when tested blew out a pound of foam, if they have tested this unit, shouldn't that have come out already?

4. Followup. I find interesting that I did call and let them know my frustrations with the driver and the brake controller, very nicely I might add. They still made no effort to contact me and make sure that I was satisfied. I once again was an annoyance.

THEY EVEN GO SO FAR AS TO PUT A FLYER IN THE TRAILER THAT SAYS IF YOU ARE NOT SATISFIED PLEASE TELL US BEFORE POSTING IT ON THE INTERNET. EXPLAIN THAT... THEY KNOW AND HAVEN'T CALLED OR FOLLOWED UP AT ALL. IF THEY DID, I WOULDN'T BE TYPING THIS.

We are a resourseful bunch, so we took the trailer down to the local dealer, paid him an hourly rate and had him teach us how to use the trailer. He was AWESOME! Took his time and cared deeply for our safety and happiness. God Bless the little guy!

Would I trade my trailer for the most amazing weekend ever we just spent for the first real time camping last weekend as a family - NEVER! I have found heaven on earth...time, quite, nature and my boys!

Sorry for the negative posting... I tried SO HARD not to write this. But you need to know. Expect a stock trailer, from the factory, issues, problems and all if you buy from them. If you do buy from them, bc I wouldn't tell you really not to, I would just say be prepared and - DRIVE THERE!!! Do not have a delivery guy as you lose all ability to turn and walk away. Take your emotions out of it, if we would have been thinking clearly, we would have insisted on taking delivery the next day.

WE DID HOWEVER, FILM THE ENTIRE EVENT with the driver. So that is fun to watch. We can prove this email is acurate.

Love this forum, would not have known half of what we did know to do if it wasn't for you all. Thanks for reading this novel.
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Old 06-01-2008, 06:46 AM   #2
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Old 06-01-2008, 07:56 AM   #3
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Warranties on campers are not like cars, you can buy a car in the North and have warranty work done in the South or any other place but campers have to go back to the same dealer. I would not buy from a dealer that is more then 50 miles a way, If I did the camper would almost have to be free. I know I sound cheap. Campers are not design to last so if you are not handy you have to pay to have it fix. I fell your pain as a first time buyer, but I will say not all dealers are like that there some that will bend over backwards for you. The other problem I have with far a way dealers is that if you have hitch work problems, to be safe you would have to take it to a local dealer to get it corrected and pay again, it is too dangerous to tow with the wrong equipment or poorly installed hitch syetem. We all are looking for a good deal but, sometimes you pay more in the long run. I hope you get your problem corrected and look at this as a learning exsperience as we all have at one time or another. Your exsperience with this issue will help other on this Forum and those who will join, that's what makes this the best Forum around, so lift your head up and smile and look forward to the future, there is a new world of Camping/Rving and we are all waiting for you. Good luck.
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Old 06-01-2008, 08:04 PM   #4
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thank you . hope you can enjoy your camper, be safe.
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Old 06-01-2008, 11:12 PM   #5
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Sorry to hear about your bad experiences with RV wholesalers. It's like buying groceries at Sam's club, compared to Albertson's or Publix. They give great service and assistance, but you pay more for it. I know I probably could have saved some serious money buying from a wholesaler like you did, but I was able to shop for the camper I wanted, have it PDI'd by the local dealer and cleaned and detailed at their facility before delivery to me, and all warranties, hitches, and operational questions are taken care of upon delivery day. They have even sent a tech to my house a couple of times for warranty repairs.
I'm glad I paid a little more for the service my local dealer provides. There are some other folks on this forum patiently awaiting their campers that they ordered from RVW and the other guys, that are taking longer than promised.
They are getting annoyed, also. Good Luck, and Happy Camping!
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Old 06-06-2008, 04:21 PM   #6
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as far as the foam and sawdust, all hybrids i've seen at dealers, have this. these trailers are on the low end of rv's and tend to not have great quality control. we bought new from a different dealer that was great and took a lot of time with the PDI. but they didn't clean every area. we still find foam and sawdust, after a year and a half.

but, your treatment by the driver and RVW, is not acceptable. i'd recommend posting on the Hybrid Forum at RV.net. RVW reads a lot of the posts there and i'll be you'll be getting a call from them.

we were going to buy from them but found ours a little closer in Chicago. we decided to go get it instead of meeting a truck halfway.
why didn't you have RVW ship you the hitch and brake controller, since it would have been free shipping? they are easy enought to install yourself and you would have been ready to hook up. we had RVW ship ours to us and took it with us when we picked up the trailer. i installed the brake controller and the rv tech offered to set up the hitch for us, otherwise i had seen the video and had the instructions to do it myself.

RVW sells a lot of Roos and if you post about your experiences on RV.net and the Hybrid Explorer forums, i'm sure they contact you to make nice.
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Old 06-02-2011, 11:24 AM   #7
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RVW Experience - XLR - June, 2011

We customed ordered our XLR toy hauler from RVW after having several discussions with Forest River manufacturing reps early in the year. The order was placed the third week of March with an anticipated delivery date eight weeks later. We made several changes to the unit, including deleting the murphy bed and adding a single Happy Jac bed in the cargo area.

Communication over the eight week period from order to delivery left much to be desired. Three e-mails and one phone call to the customer service department were not returned. Our sales person Kelly, did schedule our delivery date and time. Since there was another issues with a customer who drove to RVW and their unit was not there, I was concerned. I attempted several times over e-mail to get confirmation that the unit was physically at RVW before leaving did not get confirmation before leaving.

We picked up the unit on June 1st and it was there as scheduled. I had an extensive PDI list that had been posted on the forum and I wanted to insure I checked as many things as possible. We feared that RVW would want to rush the process. RVW was excellent at assisting us in completing our PDI checklist. They supplied water, electric power, and many different people answered our questions. We were at RVW from 10 AM to 5 PM doing the PDI an learning about our new trailer.

We ordered the extreem package on our unit and it was not manufactured that way. RVW gave us the option of taking the unit without the package with a refund, or to order another unit and deliver it to our home for free. They said they would try to "rush" the replacement but it may take up to 10 weeks. Since the unit we had seemed to have no issues, we decided to keep this one. We will most likely will not use the unit often in cold weather.

Last night we camped at Indian Lake State Park, about 3 miles from RVW to give the trailer a shake down. RVW told us to call and they would send someone over if we had any issues. I strongly recommend that you camp a few nights near the dealer before leaving the area if you have a long trip home.

To summarize, RVW was $6000 less than the other 6 dealers we talked to. They need to improve communications with their customers and do a little "hand holding" during the wait between order and delivery. Excellent service at pick up time. To be detemined is their service network and warrenty follow up.
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Old 06-02-2011, 07:26 PM   #8
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I'm sure many people have no issues with RVW, wish I could say I am one of them. I too took the bait on the savings they offer. If by chance your trailer arrives at thier lot with a hole in the roof, or the interior color is wrong, or if you drive 1200 miles to get there and the trailer hasn't arrived yet, be prepared for the greatest exercise in patience you will ever have to make in life.
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Old 06-02-2011, 09:32 PM   #9
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It's a good thing you found a great dealership to help show you the" tricks of the trade".

As for the awning I wouldn't care how many people tested it before me I would still need to be taught how it works.

Maybe the reason you haven't heard much from their service department is that there is no "service" department base upon your experience.

Good luck and happy camping!
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Old 06-02-2011, 10:24 PM   #10
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Was that OP from 2008 or 2011 ????
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Old 06-03-2011, 12:04 AM   #11
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BigRed, I think you're right. The OP appears to have started in June 2008 then resumed yesterday. Fooled me initially because I saw the 6/1 and didn't glance at the year. Maybe the we can get an update from the OP on the outcome?!
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